Manteca High's Jessi Linares, from left, Emanuel Pulido and Marvin Foerster stops the free kick from Lathrop late in the second half Thursday at Lincoln Park.

HIME ROMERO/The Bulletin

For 20 minutes, Lathrop, competing in its first varsity season without seniors, hung tough.

But at the rate host Manteca was taking open shots during that stretch, a few were eventually bound to go in Thursday at Lincoln Park.

The Buffaloes finally broke through late in the first half, finishing with 39 shots, 19 of them on target, in a 9-1 trouncing.

Dallas Vasquez headed in the first of his two first-half goals, with the perfectly-placed cross coming from Robbie Geerlof, in the 21st minute and the rout was on.

Wilmer Alvarez accounted for Lathrop’s only goal on the Spartans’ first shot attempt of the match in the 29th minute, making it 2-1. Lathrop ended up with just three shots by game’s end.

Manteca coach Justin Coenenberg was glad to see his team snap out of its funk early on but said its inability to finish off golden scoring opportunities has been a concern of his all season.

“It’s been an ongoing pattern for us; we’re not capitalizing on our opportunities,” he said. “I was telling the guys that (Lathrop’s) confidence was building at that time, so we needed to put them away. Luckily, we got those three goals in before halftime.”

Jose Marvilla, who finished with a hat trick, widened the gap for Manteca (1-1Valley Oak League, 2-7 overall) with goals in the 36th and 38th minutes.

Marvin Foerester, Derrick Costa and Geerlof each scored once in the second half. Vince Herrera contributed two assists.

“We’re rolling with a lot of freshmen on our squad,” Lathrop coach Jay Mamorno said. “If they were playing (frosh-soph) we’d have a really good team there, but (varsity) is a whole different other level.

“They just have to learn, it’s all they can do. But today’s effort was lackluster to say the least, and hopefully we can come back next game and play better than we did today.”

Sierra 6, Sonora 1

Braian Gomez sparked the rout with four goals at Daniel Teicheira Memorial Stadium.

Oscar Garcia added a goal and two assists, while Ricky Pacheco recorded the other score for the Timberwolves (2-0, 7-5-1).

Sonora netted its only goal on a penalty kick, but it was otherwise a clutch performance by Sierra’s back line. Sierra led 3-1 at halftime, but key stops by goalkeeper Luis Garcia and defender Luis Romero helped the T’Wolves secure that lead.

“It was a tough game in the first half because they had good looks, too,” Sierra coach Jose Montes said. “Our keeper came up big, and Luis Romero saved us a couple times. Sonora could have had a goal that changed the game.”

Central Valley 6, Weston Ranch 2

In Ceres, the Cougars (1-1, 3-5-1) had to make do with one of their top players in Margarito Juarez (thigh contusion) against the VOL’s reigning champion.